The Forbidden Technique
by Me2coolNjunk
Summary: How far would you go to save your child?
1. Chapter 1

***I do not own Bleach or it's characters, I just have fun playing with them :) *****************

The sky was blue. The sun high and bright. Every child in the neighborhood was out and in play.

Every child but one. One sick child lay in bed wheezing softly, his mother crying at his side.

This beautiful day went unnoticed inside the walls of the hospital. Where outside, time merrily skipped on as children played and mother's gossiped, inside was completely the opposite. No sun shone on the mother's face as she gazed tear streaked eyes onto her son. To her time stood still. Laughter stopped. The world is merely a numb empty place.

Her baby would be dead by nightfall.

Moments before she'd driven herself to migraines, desperately racking her brain for any alternative. Anything she could do to make it all better. In her desperation she'd driven her husband from the room, scolding him not to return without a cure for their only son. She knew it was wrong of her, but she couldn't accept there was nothing anyone could do. Her baby couldn't die here, not now. There has just got to be something...anything...anything in the world...someone...anyone...someone who could help her son.

But there was nothing.

There was no one.

He was born with Tuberculosis, and on this day it would claim his life. And so there she sat, at his bedside, broken, alone, watching his breathing grow weaker and slow.

Suddenly the door flung open and her husband stood before her, sweating, out of breath, and with half the hospital staff behind him.

"Sir please, you can't do this!" One of the nurses closest to him seemed to be trying to stop him getting near the bed. "A technique like this is highly illegal and very dangerous! I must advise against it!" She stepped in front of him and flung her arms out blocking the child from his father's 'forbidden technique'.

"Move aside!" He shoved her away easily and proceeded to where his wife sat watching the scene her husband was making. "I've found it! It's a long shot, but this may save our boy!" He held out his hands revealing a glowing, pulsating orb. She was shocked into silence, as she stared at the orb that seemed to have it's own heart beat. She could feel her husband's energy inside the orb and knew that he was the one that made it.

"What is that?" She reached out a hand to take it from him, and he snapped it back to his chest.

"Don't touch it!" He looked to his son sadly. "Only he can touch it. The first person to touch it other than me will activate it." He cupped her chin affectionately in his free hand. "This is going to save our boy. Trust me, it'll work."

"No sir, it WONT work!" The crowd of nurses in the doorway parted to reveal a pretty, but stern looking woman with a long braid going down her front. Her piercing blue gaze bore into the hopeful husband's and he took a instinctive step back. It was none other than the head nurse, Unohana Retsu. "Put that down this instant! You'd only cause him more pain."

"Will someone tell me what that is?" Hope had sprung alive in the mother's heart and she wanted answers. "How will giving him that ball of energy help him?"

"It wont." Said Unohana. The husband sprang toward his wife, new found courage in the hope he heard in her voice.

"This is a forbidden technique I found while researching death among royalty. I figured if anyone had defeated death it would be those with the money to play with." He held up the ball of energy. "This is my will to live. Or better put, my need to survive. I used the technique to isolate it into this object and once infused with our son, my sweet, the energy inside this ball will force the threat from his body. In other words I'll implant my own will to live inside him to boost his and together the two forces will isolate the sickness in his body and force that harmful gene out of him." He smiled exasperated after spewing the story so quickly. He looked like a mad scientist, but to the mother of a dying child he was a night in shining armor.

"What will happen after it's out of him? Will the gene need to go to another person?" Her eyes hardened and there was no doubt she was fully ready to take that burden on herself. Unohana stepped forward.

"You see ma'am this is were the research got tricky and the technique banned." She gestured to the boy. "The sickness in your son is hereditary, and the technique will not only force it from him, but separate all genes it deems harmful. All genes your husband's energy deems harmful." She began ticking off fingers as she spoke. "For instance, hair color, sense of humor, favorite-"

"It'll affect his personality?" Unohana nodded. The husband wasn't as easily shaken however.

"But he'll live!" He looked to his wife. "I wont do this if your not on board with me."

"..."

"Ma'am please. It'll separate the unwanted genes into another soul. The natural order of the Soul Society wont allow just 1/4 soul to be created. This procedure will split your son in half. Half of everything about your son will be eliminated and destroyed. And that's only IF you do it properly." Unohana looked to the ball of energy in the husband's hand. "You do realize that this had only been made perfectly once in over 2,000 years? And ever then the soul it was performed on didn't split properly and ended up dieing a very painful death." She looked sadly at both parents. "I understand this is difficult, but please hear me when I say if this goes wrong, which it most defiantly will, your son will suffer and die."

There was silence as the two thought this over. Then they suddenly looked up at one another and knew what had to be done. Before anybody could stop him, the husband lept toward his son and touched the glowing orb to his chest.


	2. Chapter 2

*************I Do Not Own Bleach!*********************************************

As soon as the orb touched the child's chest his body contorted and he screamed in pain. Unohana Retsu shooed away the crowding nurses.

"Leave here everyone! You don't want to be a witness to this crime do you?" They all scattered from the room. Now all that remained was the head nurse and the two parents watching on in horror as the small boy thrashed around screaming out in pain. Tears streaked down the mother's cheeks as she turned to Unohana desperately.

"Please help him!" She begged. "I'm sorry we didn't listen to you, please reverse it!" Before Unohana could even begin to explain there was nothing she could do, the room fell silent. All at once the boy fell quiet and motionless and his breathing stopped.. The orb, which was hovering in front of his chest, grew brighter and continued to pulse.

"Did it work?" Asked the husband. His face was white as snow and cold sweat collected at the neck of his shirt as he watched the orb hopefully.

"...This is all your fault!" The mother was at her wits end. She lunged at her husband and they both crashed to the floor. "You killed my baby you sun of a bitch! You and that stupid orb!" Unohana grabbed the angry woman by her kimono and hauled her to a wooden chair in the opposite corner. Her beaten husband remained crouched on the floor, blood dripped from fresh wounds on his face, although he showed no sign of having noticed. His gaze fixed on the floor he began to sob.

"Your right..." He said sadly. "It didn't work. Unohana-san said it wouldn't work. I should have listened. And now..." He began to cry loudly. Overwhelmed the mother rushed over to embrace her husband.

Unohana was at a loss for what to do. She knew they were wrong and for breaking the law she should arrest them on the spot, but the scene before her was one of the saddest she'd ever seen. The child needn't had suffered, but that was over now. She was sure he must be dead-

As she glanced over to the bed her heart skipped a beat. The child sat upright on the bed covers looking curiously between his parents and the head nurse. He looked entirely the same. His hair was the same dark shade as before, same lightly tanned skin; although the sun hadn't been nearly hot enough for months. Innocent brown eyes stared into her deep blue gaze and he smiled. Unohana had been the main nurse looking after him so it was natural for him to recognize her, although most of the time he was unconscious.

He looked to his sobbing parents. "Mommy? Papa?"

Suddenly it was as though the birthday boy had entered his surprise party. There was instant joy in the room as both parents hugged and kissed their son. They thanked Unohana repeatedly, although she kept insisting she'd done nothing.

"It's a miracle!" They were so excited they didn't even notice the other occupant on the bed until the mother nearly sat on it.

"WHAAAA!" She hopped up, scooping up her son at the same time. Backing away from the bed protectively she pointed a shaking finger at the spot she'd just sat. "Look!"

They all did. There was a collective gasp. Curled up in the forgotten bed covers was a small child. There was no doubt, even without medical knowledge that the child was dead. It's skin was incredibly pale against it's dark hair and it didn't move. It didn't breath. It was simply frozen in a tight ball, stuck in the eternal sleep that is death.

"That must be it then." Said Unohana. "The soul created with the Tuberculosis gene." Everyone looked on curiously, but nothing happened. The child didn't spring to life, it didn't twitch or begin to breath, it was dead. In observing the small child the mother let the one in her arms down to the floor. Curious as any child would be and without fear that comes with age, he walked to the bed and poked the corpse with his finger.

"Cool Mommy, can we keep him?" Horrified that her newly virus free child just touched a dead body, the mother grabbed him away from the bed. It took her a few deep breaths before she could address him calmly.

"No baby, we can't keep him." She explained sweetly. "He's dead, you know, like Fishy." The child shook his head.

"But Fishy was different, Mommy he could be my new brother!" Excited he pushed free of his mother's grasp and ran to the bedside. Before anyone could reach him he'd smacked the small boy across the face. "Wake up so we can play!"

The mother would have rushed forward to retrieve her son, but she and the others were rooted to the ground in shock. As the child's hand made contact with the corpse it's eyes snapped open, and all at once life flooded throughout the small body. Light brown eyes stared up at the child that had hit him in silence. Then after a few moments a large smile spread across his face.

"Hi!"


	3. Chapter 3

*****************I do not own Bleach! I don't, I don't, I don't don't don't!*****************

The adults began an instant heated debate about what had happened and why it had happened and who's fault it was. The two parents pointed and shouted, they're voices growing louder and more angry as neither could make sense of what was standing before them. Realizing this may get out of hand yet again, Unohana led the arguing couple from the room. At first they refused to leave their son alone with the 'mystery being', but after the head nurse pointed out their arguing was scaring him they agreed it was for the best. With a final curious glance at the young boy on the bedspread, Unohana joined the parents outside the room as she too wanted answers as to what the father had done.

Now alone in the hospital room, the two boys stared at one another. The child on the bed got down and stood on the floor in front of the boy, who moments before had slapped life into him. Standing on level ground it was easy to see that, though the two had many similarities they were very much two different beings in appearance. They both had dark hair, but a closer look would show one to have straight black hair and the other wavy brown locks. Their height difference was the first thing the two noticed about each other. As the young boy climbed from the bed it was clear that he was not only very short, but everything about him was significantly smaller than the brown haired boy before him. Tall, thickly built, and with a tanned complexion; the brown haired child was easily recognizable as the proud son of a samurai. Notorious for their aptitude toward appealing to the opposite sex, ability to take a punch, and godlike strength, samurai generally stick out like a sore thumb. The same applies to their children.

The smaller child, seemed just the opposite. His short, straight, jet black hair was light in texture; it blew easily in a light breeze from a nearby window. His small, fragile frame, suggested a light well aimed punch would crumble him. It was as though he weren't built for fighting at all. It was clear that though they are 'brothers' these two really are complete opposites.

This boy was a ninja.

Ninja are built for speed where samurai are built for power. An elder ninja could run circles around a samurai 7 times and get away with it because his opponent cant catch him. Usually built small and agile, ninja are stealth killers and use their small size and speed to take the upper hand in a fight. With every detail about them being light as air it's almost impossible to catch them. Their children, however, are very weak and brittle, and as a result are easily killed. It's rare to see a young ninja because the parents would usually hide them until they're fast enough to escape danger. But here, in a hospital room, alone in front of a young samurai stood a young ninja. His deep brown gaze taking in every move and detail of the samurai before him, and a large friendly smile plastered across his face, it was clear this ninja didn't feel threatened by the boy at all.

From a young age the samurai child was taught about ninja and how cruel and dishonorable they were. During this time it was common knowledge that ninja and samurai didn't get along. Ever. And though he had his father's voice in the back of his mind, the young samurai didn't feel dishonored by the ninja's presence at all. This was his brother after all, and who was he to be picky when he'd begged his mother months for one. After all, at no point did he ever specify that he _didn't_ want a ninja for a brother.

"Hi!" The ninja repeated.

"Hello." Returning the smile, the samurai decided he wouldn't let their race get in the way. "Um, what's your name?" He asked friendlily. The ninja frowned.

"Don't have one." He replied. "Do you?"

"Duh, or course." He smiled. "It's Shunsui. Kyouraku Shunsui." He unconsciously puffed out his chest as he spoke his surname. The Kyouraku family is indeed very honorable. Every male in the family has fathered one son apiece, and every son has served honorably as a war hero. People bowed when greeting his father, and they had enough money in their mansion to sustain several lifetimes of lazy unemployment; though every member worked hard at their jobs. As far as he was concerned, Shunsui had ample reason to take pride in his name. Reflecting on this he felt sympathy for the ninja, who didn't have a name at all. The ninja however seemed unfazed.

"Hello Shunsui." He looked around at a nearby table. His eyes widened and he lept up onto the bed and snatched up Shunsui's Get Well Soon sweets. "Candy!" He exclaimed happily.

"Hey!" Shunsui climbed up onto the bed and tried to grab the sweets from the smaller boy. "Those are mine! My mommy and gran grans brought those for me while I was sick!"The ninja scattered the sweets across the bed, making it harder for Shunsui to grab it all at once. "Hey!"

"Well, you don't look sick to me, so lets eat." The ninja tore open a chocolate bar and started nibbling the edge. Shunsui froze. It's true he feels much better at the moment. With the excitement of finally getting a brother and his parents arguing with each other, he hadn't even noticed. His lungs were clear, his head didn't hurt, and his body didn't ache all over. He wasn't sick anymore! But how did this happen. His mother had taken a whole day to explain to him that he was dieing. He was prepared to go out honorably and join his ancestors in the afterlife, just as his father had described. And now he's healed! He looked at the, now chocolate faced, ninja. _'Maybe I'm better because I have a brother to take care of now.' _He thought.

"Hey you gonna eat some of these?" Asked the ninja. Relieved and feeling as though he's gotten a second chance at life Shunsui grabbed up a fistful of chocolates and tossed them into his mouth. Nothing could compare to the first taste of sweets after finding out you weren't gonna die.

"Here try this one! Look this one gots sugar on it! These ain't chocolates are they? That one looks weird!" Excited that Shunsui ceased trying to stop him and instead joined him, the ninja bounced on top of the bed from one candy, to another corner of the mattress where a different one was.

"Hey careful your gonna-" Before Shunsui could even finish his sentence the ninja had sat down too close to the edge and toppled right off the bed.

There was a thud and a pained "Owww!" Shunsui almost fell off the bed after him, he was laughing so hard. The ninja was bonding around like a jackrabbit so it was only a matter of time before he fell! _'What a fool that ninja is!' _Thought Shunsui. The ninja quickly hopped back onto the bed, and grabbed the nearest chocolate. In his haste to eat the sweet candy he forgot to peel the wrapper, and seconds later he was coughing and pulling pieces of the foil from his teeth.

"Ha ha! Careful ninja!" Shunsui warned. Too late. Focusing all of his attention on pulling the foil from his teeth the ninja shifted his weight from one side to the other and being right on the edge..._plop!_ He tumbled to the floor a second time. "Ah ha ha ha ha!" Shunsui couldn't remember a time he'd ever seen someone so daft! To fall once was funny, but twice?!

"He he he, you are a fool ninja!" Shunsui laughed. The ninja carefully climbed back up. Careful not to sit on the edge, and instead sat on a large pile of chocolate bars. He looked around the bed in disbelief.

"Where'd all the candy go?" He asked Shunsui, who was laughing way too hard to answer.

They ate candy for a short while and then a thought occurred to Shunsui.

"Hey, ninja?" He asked.

"Yea?"

"What if I gave you a name?"

"_Your_ gonna name _me_?" The ninja asked incredulously.

"Sorry, I mean I didn't mean to..." Shunsui knew he shouldn't have asked. It was a very racist thing to offer. Samurai often named animals, swards, instruments, and slaves. Anything that they decided had a soul and that they owned. To offer to name a ninja, one who is a natural enemy is like a slap in the face. He basically just referenced the ninja to an animal. Shunsui of course didn't mean anything other than to simply bestow upon his friend a name he could take pride in; one to call his own. "Sorry, I shouldn't have asked..." The small boy just chuckled.

"No, it's fine." He said reassuringly. "I'd be happy to get a name from you. I just never thought a samurai would give me one." He smiled. "What is it?"

"I just started learning Samurian." Explained Shunsui. "It's an ancient samurai language that is never used anymore." He paused before continuing. "I think your name should suit you, ninja, and it should have pride."

"Pride?" The ninja laughed. "I'm not a samurai Shunsui. You can't give me a samurai name, you know."

"Why not? Your my brother." Shunsui argued. "The name I want to give you has the pride of a samurai But it's kinda ninja too..." The ninja was dangerously close to another fall with how eager he was to hear.

"What is it?" He asked impatiently.

"Ukitake. Ukitake Jyuushiro." Shunsui beamed proudly. "It's Samarian. The language is almost gone, but so long as people keep saying your name they'll speak it forever." He closed his eyes as he spoke, afraid that what he'd say next would offend his new friend. "Ukitake Jyuushiro. It means, Ninja Fool. I think that this name will fit you best." He looked up at the ninja, who looked as though all his dreams had come true all at once.

"That...is the best name EVER!" He hopped up where he was sitting, lost his footing and tumbled off the bed for the third time.

"He he, that name really does fit you, ninja...i mean, Ukitake." Shunsui smiled down at the crumpled form under the bed. "Only someone like you _would_ be happy to have a name like that. But I'm glad; I think it's an honor to name my new brother."


End file.
